US Treasury Secretary downplays Russia sanctions waiver, warns Zelensky to 'be careful'

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied accusations that Washington’s recent actions were tipping the scales in Russia's favor and warned President Volodymyr Zelensky to "be careful," in an Oct. 18 interview with NBC News.

The comments came two days after U.S. President Donald Trump waived most of the sanctions and tariffs introduced in a bipartisan Russia sanctions bill he signed last month. They also follow  Zelensky's claim that the recent decision to slow down Ukrainian Starlink access came from inside the American government.

"President Zelensky should be very careful about making statements like this that aren't true," Bessent said when asked by NBC host Kristen Welker about Zelensky's comments.

When SpaceX abruptly implemented a speed cap on Ukraine's Starshield services earlier this week, a blame game ensued. It was not immediately clear if the restrictions came from SpaceX, the U.S. government, or outside sabotage. The Ukrainian Armed Forces relies on Starshield services to conduct military operations.

In what seemed a remarkable coincidence, the restrictions followed a threat from the U.S. government to withhold intelligence support should Ukraine continue to bomb Russian oil refineries. The Telegraph reported on Oct. 16 that Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO, proposed the speed cap to Trump — and Trump "agreed," citing multiple sources familiar with the matter.

Zelensky appeared earlier on Welker’s "Meet the Press," where he said Ukrainian intelligence reports show the decision to curb Starlink access came from the U.S. government.

"It was a message from the American government to limit this feed," Zelensky said, "and technically SpaceX did it."

Both Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio have "categorically" denied the accusation, Bessent said, adding that it was "reckless" of Zelensky to make such a charge.

Bessent also commented on the Trump administration’s decision to waive sanctions included in the recently passed Graham Act.

When asked what concessions Russian President Vladimir Putin had made to earn sanctions relief, Bessent claimed that "the only thing that has been lifted is the diesel embargo" and said "no one has been tougher" on sanctioning Russia than Trump.

The U.S. president, in an effort to lower diesel prices before the U.S. midterm elections, has sought to strike a diesel deal with Russia, despite the rising cost of diesel having been widely attributed to the U.S. war with Iran.

Pressed by Welker about the executive order waiving the sanctions in the recently passed Graham Act, Bessent repeated that "no sanctions have been lifted."

The new sanctions, which never went into effect, were waived rather than lifted.